Bhav, Raga, Taal and Natya
- Abir Maheshwari
- Jun 19, 2019
- 3 min read
There are so many questions which arise in my mind when it comes to performances. What is a perfect or complete performance? What are the aspects which make a performance a flawless or an ideal performance? Is there some formula to it? In the search of these questions, I came across 4 words which are Bhav, Raga, Taal and Natya. I was familiar with these words because some of my friends were into classical singing, dancing and drama. But I was curious about finding my answers. So, I just started searching these words in different Indian scared Scriptures and also on the internet in the form of articles written by various writers. Here I am with this article of introduction on these 4 words reference to Natya Shastra. 1. Bhav (Expression) I read in the book of Natya Shastra. Bhav refers to psychological states or mood. There are many Sanskrit meanings to the words bhav but to the reference of Natya Shastra, I am going to share some of the information which found to be interesting in the context of performance. Bhav also has three different states which denominate in human by birth Sattva, Rajas and Tamas or its kinds Sthāyibhāva (durable psychological states), Vyabhicāribhāva (complementary psychological states), Sāttvika (involuntary states). Bhav can also say to be, as the first touch of emotion in a mind previously at rest; when the emotion becomes more intense and finds expression in movements of the eyes, eyebrows, etc. 2. Raga(Melodic Framework) The 1st type named Nādamaya, made up of sound which is the object to the sense of hearing. The 2nd one being Devatāmaya, which is to be realized through contemplation. These are two forms till now I came across with respect to Natya Shastra. Raga has the power to evoke an emotion that takes hold of the listeners through notes and different qualities of tone. There is much more to it, which can be explored in the forthcoming articles. 3. Taal (Beats) I will try to keep it simple, as much as I can. It is basically a rhythm or rhythmic patterns. It is also fascinating that taal is also used to measure a musical time in Indian music. Cyclic beats and fundamental patterns made music and its audience to experience the bliss of heavens. Taal came into notice when different types of natural and human-made instruments started giving different melodies, sounds which were cyclic. In reality, taal is much more than a rhythmic cycle. It has a fixed number of beats which are very specific and has specific divisions of the beats. Taal is Time in the context of music. 4. Natya (Drama) I sometimes get tangled in one thought that how a dramatic art or art of drama is only secluded to stage performance made by humans? A stage made by nature is one humongous stage for Natya. Drama is a representation of you(body) and god(emotions) in three states. Natya exploits mimicry of characters written in the story, gods, asuras, animals etc., it cant be defined without self-experience. Sattva Natya keeps body, mind and spirit in the correct sink in the vibrations of nature. So, that life force should not die. This was just a small introduction which I came across by reading and exploring the world of Natya Shastra. My journey to solve the questions does not end here, just hang on with me to experience time in the context of performance.
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